* Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Wednesday revamped his cabinet and the executive lineup of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
* Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Maduro is scheduled to visit China from Sept. 8-14.
* Developing relations with Moscow is the top priority for Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said Wednesday during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny spaceport in the Amur region in Russia's Far East., according to the Kremlin.
* The European Union will put forward a package of measures to support Europe's wind power industry as renewable energy companies struggle with challenges including inflation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
* Austria reopened its embassy in Iraq on Tuesday after more than 30 years of closure. The reopening took place as Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for a two-day visit to boost bilateral ties.
* The Lebanese cabinet on Tuesday approved the 2024 state budget and submitted it to the parliament.
* Lebanon and Britain have launched a joint military exercise in central Lebanon on Tuesday, the British embassy in Lebanon said in a statement.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Tuesday vowed to work for strengthening bilateral ties between his country and Equatorial Guinea in a way that serves the interests of both sides.
* UN humanitarians said on Tuesday the 700,000 children under 5 years old in northeast Nigeria facing severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is double the 2022 figure.
* The junta in Niger on Tuesday said it would end a military pact with neighbouring Benin, accusing it of authorising the deployment of troops on its territory for a possible military intervention against Niger by the West African regional bloc.
* China was the largest market for Australia's agricultural products in the 2022-23 financial year, with the value of exports reaching a new high, a report has found.
* The European Union should seek to complete free trade agreements with Australia, Mexico and South American bloc Mercosur by the end of the year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
* Britain's economy contracted in July at an unexpectedly sharp rate after strikes in hospitals and schools as well as unusually rainy weather weighed on output, according to official figures on Wednesday that will add to worries about the outlook.
* NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has set a new record of the longest trip in the International Space Station (ISS), the agency said Tuesday. Rubio surpassed NASA's single spaceflight record of 355 continuous days in space on Monday, which was made by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei on March 30, 2022.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director on Tuesday signed offon broad use of updated COVID-19 vaccines approved by the government - covering ages 6 months and up - as the country prepares to start a vaccination campaign within days.
* Four major oil ports in Libya have reopened after shutting down on Saturday because of the powerful storm that swept the country, killing thousands of people, port agent Al Omran International Maritime Agencies said on Wednesday.
* The death toll rose to 47 from the extratropical cyclone in the Brazilian southeastern state of Rio Grande do Sul, officials said Tuesday.
